Possibilities: The Fire Inside
by Violet Enigma
Summary: Carver tried to hide the fact that he has the blight, after being abandoned by Bartrand. Part of my "Possibilities" one-shots, which will eventually turn into a linear tale once the muses stop bouncing me all around the story.


A/N: I wanted to do a Carver perspective on being abandoned by Bartrand, so this would take place right at the end of Act I.

Also, I fully intend to bring all my "Possibilities" stories into one long chapter story, I'd prefer it to be a linear tale, not episodic. And currently the muses see fit to bounce me around the tale.

Disclaimer: Dragon Age is owned by Bioware, I just hang out.

It had only been a few days since Bartrand had left them locked in the Deep Roads, and Carver was still furious. _May the Maker spit on his pus-filled corpse, if I ever get my hands on him he'll regret the day he abandoned us in the blight forsaken hole._ Suddenly he was raked with agony, and his step faltered causing his sister to look back at him with a worried gleam in her eye. He waved off her worried expression and just patted his stomach. She nodded at him, trusting and understanding that she would tell him if something was wrong.

The problem was, something was wrong; it had been since they had to find a way around the damned cave in back when Bartrand was still around. He felt the first twinges of the pain just before they found Sandal, who was supposedly lost and unable to defend himself. Turns out Bodahn doesn't know his son very well, since he was surrounded by dead darkspawn without a mark on him before he waltzed back to base camp after Anders and his sister had checked to make sure he was in fact unharmed.

Before he could stop himself Carver found he was heaving up bile and something foul behind a rock. It felt wrong even coming up, somehow managed to feel greasy. He could feel his sister by his side, rubbing his back like mother did for them when they were sick as kids. When he was spent, he was just thankful they could not see what he had just left behind, if the smell was any indication.

"Thanks sister," Carver said weakly. "I'll be okay now."

"Are you sure?" she asked, concern riddling her voice as she offered him the water skin to wash out his mouth.

"Of course, I think it was just my stomach rejecting whatever lichen we ate a few hours ago."

"Alright, just let me know if you need to rest," Hawke said, putting her trust in him.

Trusting him? That almost made Carver laugh out loud. Since they had arrived in Kirkwall, no it was before that, since the loss of Bethany to that ogre, Maker take her to his side, she had tried to hold on to him and mother a little more closely. She had begun to actually listen to him, not just dismiss his comments out of hand like she had before they left Lothering. It was a heartening concept, and one that gave him a new confidence.

He was surprised by her when they were hanging out one night at the Hanged Man with her band of misfits:

* * *

Marian had been quiet, deep in thought. Varric continued to pay for the ale she was drinking, because they celebrating since she had just gotten all the money together and were going to talk to Bartrand the next day with Varric. He knew she was deciding who to take with, when suddenly she looked at him sitting next to her and said: "Do you want to come?"

"Of course, I don't want you hogging all the glory," Carver had managed to sputter, knowing she knew that answer.

"Carver, this has never been about glory for me. It's always been about getting mother what she wants: that blighted estate in Hightown."

"I thought you wanted to be a noble," Carver stated, even more surprised.

"Pfft," Hawke waved her hand at him absently, as if trying to ward off his words. Then with utmost clarity, despite the number of ales she had consumed: "I want a bit of revenge."

"Really?" Carver felt relief wash over him.

"I want to take as many of those bastards down as I can for what they did to Bethy," Marian explained, looking at him with a wicked gleam in her eyes. "So again I ask: do you want to come?"

"Let's take them down," Carver said with a gleam that matched his sister. He then raised his mug to her and her to him and they chugged them down before laughing at the promise they had made.

* * *

Carver smiled at the memory of that conversation. At that moment he realized that he had underestimated his sister. He had thought she only wanted to come down here for the glory and riches that would protect her from being hunted by the templars but she wanted more than that. She wanted to carve her way through some darkspawn to get some much wanted revenge after they lost their sister in their flight from Lothering and he respected her for that.

Now they just had to survive to get back to the surface and dread was building in Carver as he thought he had less and less a chance of making it there. The pain was getting worse, it felt like a growing blaze burning through his body and it was getting harder to hide it from his sister and the healer. After a couple more days of a continuing struggle on Carver's part, they finally got back to a location they all recognized, judging from the huge dragon and dragonling corpses still littering the area.

"Well, isn't this a familiar sight, and it only took us five days to get here," Varric commented, with more of a grumble than usual.

"Can we rest a moment?" Carver asked, swaying on his feet. "I don't feel right."

"I think all our stomachs are all getting a bit tender at the moment," Hawke replied, scanning the area for a threat.

"No, it's…" Carver could no longer stay on his feet and collapsed from the pain.

"Carver!" Hawke rushed to his side to support his head.

"It's the blight," Anders explained. "I can sense it."

"Just like that templar Wesley, I'll be just as dead, just as gone," Carver moaned, fear in his eyes.

"There may be a way," Anders began to explain. "I stole the maps from some wardens in the area; I wanted to know if they were hunting me. They weren't."

"Way to keep it to yourself, Anders." Hawke muttered angrily at him.

"You didn't ask," Anders replied, getting defensive. "All you wanted were the maps but the point is I know where they might be. They could help Carver."

"How?" Carver asked.

"By becoming a Gray Warden," Anders answered simply.

"Is that a cure?" Hawke asked, a flash of hope seen in her eyes.

"It could be, I have to warn you that the joining could be as much of a death sentence as the blight itself," Anders explained.

"This just keeps sounding better and better," Carver smirked at his sister.

"Let's go find them, I'm not about to lose another of my family to the blasted darkspawn," Hawke stated with finality trying to help Carver stand so they could make their way to the wardens.

"What's it like? Being a warden I mean," Carver began questioning Anders after walking for a few hours.

"It's a calling," Anders began. "It's the wardens' mission to end the blights."

"But the blight just ended, will they even take me?" Carver queried, concern and pain etching his voice.

"I'll make sure they do," Hawke threatened.

"I don't think it works quite like that Hawke," Anders chuckled. "But there are other problems that the wardens deal with, and with the end of the blight recruiting members has been a bit problematic."

Hawke and Anders took turns walking with Carver, so he could keep up with the group since he was in so much pain, over the course of the next couple days. They also poured as much healing into him as they could to try to stem the taint from spreading too far before they found the Gray Wardens. Varric took point, and scouted ahead as much as he dared since they were essentially a man down with Carver being in so much pain and none of them wanted to be caught unawares by a group of darkspawn.

Finally Anders looked hopeful, and turned to the group to say: "I think they're near by."

Looking in the direction he was feeling the wardens' presence, sadly however what he saw was not wardens: "Or it could just be more darkspawn."

"Carver, save your strength, we'll take care of them," Hawke said as she leaned her brother against a large boulder for support.

Carver thought to protest, but he knew she was right. As time was going by, he was getting weaker, and the fire the taint caused in his body was getting worse. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to lift his great sword at this point, let along hit some darkspawn with it. He could only watch as the two mages and Varric used their area effects to take the darkspawn down as quickly as possible.

Finally the battle seemed to be nearing a close and the group noticed torches in the distance, so Hawke went to Carver again to offer her shoulder and they made their way to the torches. Thankfully it was the Gray Wardens. With a little convincing on Anders part, and Hawke sticking up her brother, Carver was taken with the wardens to perform the joining as soon as possible.

Hawke stood watching the retreating form of her brother supported by one of the wardens, fear clutching her heart as tears started to fall silently down her cheeks.

"Hawke, it'll be okay," Anders said pulling her into his arms as her tears continued to fall. "He'll make it; he's stronger than he thinks."

"I hope you're right Anders," Hawke whispered. "I can't lose another of my family to those blighted darkspawn."

Hawke, Varric and Anders didn't move from their vigil until the wardens and Carver had disappeared from sight. Then they made their own way back to the surface, back to Kirkwall to tell Leandra the news.


End file.
